The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide, 15th Edition [Paperback]

Mark Minasi (Author), Sybex (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 11, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0782143105 | ISBN-13: 978-0782143102 | Edition: 15

The World's Leading PC Guide--Updated, Expanded, Reorganized

The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide continues its reign as the PC world's great problem-solving wonder. In simple, easy-to-follow language, it shows you how to prevent disasters, fix the ones that occur, and maximize your PC's power and longevity. Based on author Mark Minasi's popular seminars, this book is an unbeatable value. It teaches you everything you need to know to meet all your PC challenges, present and future.

Coverage includes:
* Preventing hardware disasters
* Upgrading memory
* Replacing power supplies
* Installing EIDE and Serial ATA hard drives
* Adding SCSI ports
* Partitioning drives using NTFS and FAT32
* Protecting your PC from viruses, worms, and spyware
* Solving data backup challenges
* Adding and repairing DVDs and CD-ROMs
* Installing and troubleshooting scanners
* Troubleshooting printers
* Installing communications devices
* Resolving mouse and keyboard problems
* Installing video and sound cards
* Tackling networking issues
* Installing a wireless network
* Troubleshooting Internet connectivity
* Solving laptop problems

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The World's Leading PC Guide—Updated, Expanded, Reorganized

The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide continues its reign as the PC world's great problem-solving wonder. In simple, easy-to-follow language, it shows you how to prevent disasters, fix the ones that occur, and maximize your PC’s power and longevity. Based on author Mark Minasi’s popular seminars, this book is an unbeatable value. It teaches you everything you need to know to meet all your PC challenges, present and future.

Coverage includes:

• Preventing hardware disasters
• Upgrading memory
• Replacing power supplies
• Installing EIDE and Serial ATA hard drives
• Adding SCSI ports
• Partitioning drives using NTFS and FAT32
• Protecting your PC from viruses, worms, and spyware
• Solving data backup challenges
• Adding and repairing DVDs and CD-ROMs
• Installing and troubleshooting scanners
• Troubleshooting printers
• Installing communications devices
• Resolving mouse and keyboard problems
• Installing video and sound cards
• Tackling networking issues
• Installing a wireless network
• Troubleshooting Internet connectivity
• Solving laptop problems

About the Author

Mark Minasi is Sybex's most prolific and successful author with millions of copies of his books in print. He has 22 years experience in the computer business and has been teaching professional seminars since 1985. His Mastering Windows XP Professional and Windows 2000 Server books are the #1 selling Windows titles in the world. 

Product Details

• Paperback: 912 pages
• Publisher: Sybex; 15 edition (February 11, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0782143105
• ISBN-13: 978-0782143102
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,586,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Minasi, CS Directory Services MVP, is one of the world's leading Windows authorities. He teaches classes in two dozen countries and is a much sought-after speaker at conferences and industry gathering keynotes. His firm, MR&D, has taught tens of thousands of people to design and run Windows networks. Mark has written over 15 books for Sybex, including the market-leading Mastering Windows Server 2003 and The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Indexing is weak, April 6, 2004

By 

Fred Child Wendell (Dryden, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide, 15th Edition (Paperback)

I have purchased copies of the book for the past 6 or seven years. Mark Minasi is the computer guru! His capacity to take technical questions of intimidating proportions and reduce them to a level us peons can understand well enough to get the job done. Brilliant people in my life have always had that ability to take an abstract piece of information ( something like the origin of the solar system) an distill it into language the rest of the world can understand. Mark Minasi does this year in and year out with the latest PC's and there components.After reading and listening to him over the years I've come to feel reasonably well versed in upgrading our home computers, here in Dryden New York. No small feat when you consider that I am an art teacher by profession.
However in your latest release of Mark's work I noticed that the indexing is less than half the size of the previous year's version. Sadly it is not nearly as thorough. This may sound like a miner point but for some of us readers it will prove to be a critical one. I past years whenever I had a problem I would run across an unfamiliar term or network protocol, you could look it up in the index and follow the solution to your problem through to completion. As I see it the value of the entire book is to guide you through a problem you've run into on your own, as well as making for fun reading of course. The weak index creats a broud obstruction at the very center of the process of self education which is what Mark has taught flawlessly for years.
While Minasi work still remains flawless, getting to his answeres will be hindered buy a poor indexing job. By way of qualification, perhaps this type of indexing would be fine in other books. We just got spoiled with having the best of everything in past 13 editions. I want to repeat the mark Minasi has lost none of his accuracy or wit. The quality remains. Its just the indexing that limits the overall effectiveness of getting to the write answere when you need it . Fred C Wendell

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Making it easier to become a technician., March 29, 2004

By 

Michael J Woznicki "Michael J Woznicki" (Holland, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide, 15th Edition (Paperback)

One of the first books I ever read in the computer industry was Mark Minasi's Upgrade & Maintenance guide 8th edition. From there I was hooked and a fan ever since. Minasi's style is one that makes the reader comfortable with the material without over stating. Minasi dos not over complicate that material so every level of knowledge and skill would be able to comprehend the text.

The book is also well suited for several certification exams such ad CST or A+; and the material is technically accurate and up to date. The book covers all hardware topics from the hard drive to add-on cards to networking and everything in between.

What the author has done for you is break down the topics and detailed information that allows you to grasp the concept(s). What I think is missing is a lab manual to go along with the material to make is easier to study from.

If you are looking to break into the technical arena, study for the A+ exam or looking to enhance the knowledge base you have, then this book may be one to get a hold of. Overall Mark Minasi is a respected and trusted author and this release is certain proof of that.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dave in Kazoo, September 16, 2005

By 

David Lodes - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete PC Upgrade and Maintenance Guide, 15th Edition (Paperback)

The book would be good for someone new to computer repair. I bought it to keep current on new technology. There was little new in it.